Cain stumbles on Libya question in editorial board interview

Herman Cain’s foreign policy debateperformance cameunder fire frommany conservatives for repeatedly punting questions with an answer that went something like “I’d make the right decision because I’d have all the facts in front of me and those facts would be given to me by smart people, who are smart and knowledgeable because I only work with people who are smart and knowledgeable.”

In an interview with the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel’s editorial board (link here, embedded above), Cain was asked if he agreed with President Barack Obama’s policy regarding Libya. Cain’s response, if it had happened at Saturday’s debate, probably would have been compared to Rick Perry’s “Oops” moment, when he failed to name the third federal agency he would like to shut down.

“Okay… Libya,” said Cain, who was visibly shifting around in his chair. Several seconds passed

“President OBama supported the uprising, correct? President Obama called for the removal of Qaddafi? Just want to make sure we’re talking about the same thing before I say yes or no, I didn’t agree.”

A few more seconds passed.

“Umm… I do not agree with the way he handled it for the following reason. Umm… Nope, that’s a different one.”

“Umm… I gotta go back and see… I’ve got all this stuff twirling around in my head.”

He paused again for a few seconds and then asked, “specifically, what are you asking me if I agree or disagree with Obama?”

The question was restated.

He later said that he would have supported many of things that he would have supported, but said that he would have assessed the situation differently, but then allowed that he and Obama could have ended up at the same policy conclusion.